What would you do on the Sabbath? Much! It's
often times thought that all you can do is lay around the house,
but that is far from the truth!

Listen to what our friends in the book Living
a Jewish Life have to say: Making Shabbat is not a matter
of refraining, but of doing. The Talmud says "the affairs of
heaven" are permitted on the Sabbath. Specifically, teaching
children and arranging weddings. Resting, eating, and praying are
not only permitted, but mandated. There are other verbs for
Sabbath, too, sleeping, reading, thinking, studying, talking,
listening, meditating, visiting the sick, laughing, singing,
welcoming guests, and making love. Page 37

Yes, there is much to do on the Sabbath. Just
think what your Saturday memories would be like if your family
did all these things!

The main focus of the day is time with God. We
have been excited about discovering that God has a regular Torah
reading planned for us each week.

What do you mean by "regular Torah reading
in the yearly cycle"? This is something that really excited
us when we found out that God actually had a plan to teach and
communicate on a weekly/daily basis! This is the examination of
God's covenant with the Bride and Bridegroom! A wedding contract
in Hebrew is called a Ketubah. In the wedding contract or Ketubah
the Bridegroom would tell what he would promise the Bride. He
would have to live up to the contract in order to keep his bride,
and the ketubah would be preserved throughout their
marriage

We found out that on the Jewish calendar--which
you can buy at a Jewish gift store or through our ministry--have
are readings for each week posted! Just think! Instead of hit and
miss according to what our pastors have done for years, there is
actually a prescribed reading from the first five books of the
Bible with a matching reading from the Prophets! We immediately
ordered a copy of the book THE PENTATEUCH AND HAFTORAH (may be
purchased from our resource list) where the readings are laid out
in order, and found out that there were excellent commentaries
for each verse! It changed our lives! Now we sit down with that
book and a notebook and read in the order that God intended! We
also enjoy the Second (New) Testament commentaries that First
Fruits of Zion Magazine have each month that go in conjunction
with this book! Now we can really see Yeshua reflected in the
Scriptures and festivals as God intended!

If you don't want to do these readings on
Saturday, that is fine. But we encourage you to do Havdalah. It
is our favorite service and is performed at the conclusion of
every festival and every Sabbath. It's the one thing that most
people remember about the Sabbath. It really portrays Yeshua and
only takes about twenty minutes.

SATURDAY EVENING OR HAVDALAH
SERVICE

This service only takes about 20 minutes and we
encourage everyone to do this! The pictures of Yeshua abound
within it's framework! (This is a picture of a Havdalah set that
you can assemble or purchase from our resource list.)

Things you will need for Havdalah:

1. A candle with more than one wick (you can
buy these from a Jewish gift store or Messianic ministry. I made
my own by using duck tape around three regular candles for
years!)

2. A spice box or shaker or a bag of spices
tied at the top with ribbon or something.

6. One candle for each person. I have used an
extra package of Hanukkah candles. Remind people that these do
drip and not let little children handle their own.

7. A candle holder

The first thing that the father and children do
is go outside to look for the first three stars of the evening.
In the summer time it may be later, and in the winter it may be
earlier. We sometimes do Havdalah according to our schedule
rather than the stars' schedule. In some parts of the country it
could be 11 pm before the stars come out, so you must use common
sense and decide what time you wish to depart from Sabbath. This
is the ceremony that I call my "lingering kiss after a sweet
evening with Jesus/Yeshua." You don't want to say goodnight,
but it is time to go back to the real world.

Havdalah is done standing around a table. The
family will gather and a time of sharing what wonderful things we
have learned about God will be discussed by everyone. Then the
father or leader will take the wine and pour it into a glass
placed on top of the saucer. He is the only one with a wine cup
on this night.

(Leader takes a cup of wine and fills it to
overflowing into the saucer.

Teaching: The wine that has been spilled
into the saucer has the appearance of blood; this is the blood of
Yeshua that was spilled for our sins. (Luke 22:20)

Raise the cup in the right hand
carefully. The right hand is a picture of the
Messiah. (Isa. 63:5) In raising the cup, a saying
of Yeshua is remembered.

"And I, if I am lifted up from the
earth, will draw all men to Myself." (John 12:32)

HOST READS: Behold
God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid, for my
strength and song is God the Lord, and He has become my
salvation. And you shall draw waters out of the wells of
salvation with joy. Salvation belongs to the Lord; Your blessing
is on Your people. The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob
is a refuge for us. For the Jews it was light and gladness, and
joy and honor. So be it with us. I will lift up the cup of
salvation, and I will call on the Name of the Lord. (T.J.P.)

In Hebrew the word for salvation is
"Yeshua." So if you go back and read what is said in
this prayer it says that Yeshua will be my salvation! How true it
is !

ALL SING OR RECITE TOGETHER: Blessed and praised are You, O Lord our God, King of
universe who creates the fruit of the vine. (T.J.P.)
(*Do not drink the wine at this point. You may set the cup down
on the saucer.)

Yeshua said, "I am the vine, you are the
branches." (John 15:5) It is from the Father through the
Spirit that fruit is created in our lives.

SPICES

ALL SING OR RECITE TOGETHER:Blessed and praised are You, O Lord our
God, King of the universe who creates different kinds of spices. (T.J.P.)

(All will take the container and inhale the
fragrance,

and pass the spice box among the people
present)

Teaching: The spice box must contain
more than one spice.

The first meaning of the spices is the many
different prayers,

ceremonies and experiences we have just had
with God

in the Sabbath or festival. Each of these
experiences are a sweet smelling spice to God.

Another explanation is that each person is as a
spice, each unique and pleasing to God. Together we make up
different kinds of spices as the blessing says:

The prophet Isaiah referred to this...Lift
up a Banner on the high mountain. Raise your voice to them that
they may enter the gates of the nobles. I have commanded my
sanctified ones. I have also called My mighty ones to my nose;
Those who rejoice in My exaltation. Isaiah 13:2-3.

The Banner is a term for the Messiah. Strangely
enough many Havdalah spice boxes are topped with a banner.

NOTE:"To exalt the voice" is a
reference to the resurrection.

"To enter the gates of the nobles" is
a reference to Rosh haShanah (Feast of Trumpets).

"My sanctified ones" is a reference
to those who believe in the Messiah.

"Called My mighty ones to My nose" is
a reference to the believers being a sweet smell to God as He
flares His nose to inhale their sweet fragrance.

LIGHTING THE FIRE

ALL SING OR RECITE:Blessed and praised are You, O Lord our God, King of the
universe who creates the light of the fire.
(T.J.P.)

(Light the Havdalah candle and turn out all
the lights.

You may need to have a light near the leader
so he/she can read.)

Why do you use a candle with many wicks?
This is a tremendous messianic sign. It symbolizes the common
destiny of all of us in the body of the Messiah Yeshua. We are
seen as united with the fire of God's Holy Spirit or Ruach
haKodesh shining forth. We become one with Messiah Yeshua and
we recognize His death, burial and resurrection as a necessity to
become part of His body. Others see His light in us as we go into
the coming week.

As you pass your hand in front of the torch or
candle of many wicks, it gives the appearance of rays of light
coming from your hand. We have learned that the candle is a
picture of Yeshua. In the Book of Judges we see that Deborah is
married to a man named Lapidot. Lapidot means the Torch.
Deborah means "bee" or "congregation that is busy
as bees" in Hebrew. Thus we can see that this again is a
picture of Yeshua with His bride. In the light of Yeshua the
bride will be drawn to Him. She is busy preparing for His coming,
and will be busy examining herself in the days ahead.

As you upraise your fingers to the flame, it
reveals the dirt under your nails and on your hands. This lesson
brings us back to our sins. In the light of Yeshua our prayer is
that we are found clean from sin.

A third lesson teaches the resurrection. One of
the things that keeps growing after we are buried is our nails.
They live on long after we are dead. So, too in the light of
Yeshua will we live on in His sight!

God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount
Paran. His Glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of
His praise. His splendor was like the sunrise, rays flashed from
His hand, where His power was hidden. Habbakkuk 3:3-4.

The candle is a torch or a "lapidot".
We can see this picture in Acts 20:7-12. If you read this passage
through Messianic eyes you will see that what is spoken of here
is a Havdalah service with non-Jews in Troas. (Chapter 20
shows many pictures of Paul keeping the Festival of Unleavened
Bread. He truly was a practicing Orthodox Jew! We just need to
know the Jewishness.)

Remember "Fiddler on the Roof"? They
were carrying Havdalah candles to the wedding. They were
carrying a "lapidot!" It is a picture of the
bridegroom lighting the way to the wedding. Weddings generally
take place right after the Sabbath Havdalah service is
over.

LESSON TO FOLLOW: I have inserted the
teaching as you read the passage by including the teaching in
parentheses.

7. And on the first day of the week
(Saturday evening at sundown) when we were gathered together to
break bread (a term for eating a meal together in a service),
Paul began talking to them, intending to depart the next day, and
he prolonged his message until midnight.

8. And there were many lamps
(lapidot) (also a term for Havdalah gathering)
in the upper room where we were gathered together.

9. And there was a certain young man named
Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep;
and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell
down from the third floor, and was picked up dead.

10. But Paul went down and fell upon him and
after embracing him, he said, "Do not be troubled, for his
life is in him."

11. And when he had gone back up, and had
broken the bread (ceremony of Hamotzi would have been said) and
eaten, he talked with them a long while, until daybreak, and so
departed. Acts 20:7-11

Powerful isn't it? Now let's see what else
these non-Jews would have experienced that night.

HOST will again take the cup in the right
hand and the following is said:

HOST READS OR SINGS:Blessed and praised are You, O Lord our God, King of the
universe who makes a distinction between Holy and profane,
between light and darkness, between Israel and the heathen
nations, between the seventh day and the six working days.
Blessed and praised are You, O Lord, who makes a distinction
between Holy and profane. (T.J.P.)

DRINK THE WINE

*You may pass the cup around if
you like. You may pour out individual cups for
each person from the bottle and have ready too.
The leader would drink from the main cup which is
a reminder of our common destiny in Yeshua.

PRAYER FOR THE COMING WEEK

EVERYONE RECITES: Ruler of the universe, Father of mercy and forgiveness,
we ask that You allow us to begin the working days which are
drawing near to us, in peace; released from all sin and
transgression; cleansed from all iniquity, trespass and
wickedness; and clinging to the study of Your Torah, and to the
performance of good works. In the coming week, allow us to hear
only tidings of joy and gladness. May there not arise in the
heart of any man envy of us, or in us envy of any man. O, our
King, our God, Father of mercy, bless and prosper the works of
our hands. And all who love us have thoughts of good to us and
Your people Israel. Lift them up and prosper them, and fulfill
their objective; but all who conceive against us and your people
Israel, plans which are not good, frustrate them, and cause their
plans to fail; as it is written. "Take counsel together, but
it will come to nothing; Speak the word, but it will not stand,
For God is with us." Open to us, Father of mercies and Lord
of forgiveness, in this week and the weeks to come, the gates of
light and blessing, redemption and salvation, of heavenly help
and celebration, of holiness and of peace, of the study of Your
Torah and of prayer. And also let this Scripture be fulfilled in
us. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who
brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, Who
says to Zion, " Your God reigns!" (T.J.P.)

HOST will put the candle in the wine that was
spilt in the saucer.

As the candle fights for its
life in the wine, it is a reminder of Yeshua's
death. Yeshua fought for His life in His own
blood on the cross. As there is no other light in
the room when the candle is put out, there is no
light in the world without Yeshua. If you wish,
you may at this time have every member of the
family light a small candle from another candle.
As each member of your family lights his candle,
it is a recommitment to serve Yeshua only in the
coming week. His light was put out, and through
His resurrection, and our belief in it, do we
come in to the understanding of Yeshua as that
LIGHT. (Acts 14:47 and Isaiah 49:6)

The last act of Havdalah is to sing
"Eliyahu Hanavi". In doing this we are seeking God
to send Elijah the prophet and for him to bring the King Messiah.
The Suffering Messiah has come, now we need The King Messiah
(Messiah ben David). Before there can be a Messiah, there must be
an Elijah. We see this in the Book of Revelation that in the
spirit of Moses and Elijah the two witnesses come forth.

Isn't it wonderful? This song is available on
many Jewish tapes that you can find. I am including the
traditional words so you can read them even if you haven't found
a tape.

(Chorus)

E-li-ya-hu-ha-na-vi,

E-li-ya-hu-ha-tish-bi,

E-li-ya-hu, e-li-ya-hu,

E-li-ya-hu ha-gi-la-di.

Bim'-hey-ra v'ya-mey-nu,

Ya-vo-e-ley-nu,

Im Ma-shi-ach-ben Da-vid,

Im Ma-shi-ach ben Da-vid.

Translation: Elijah the prophet, Elijah the
Tishbite, Elijah the Giladite. May he come soon in our lifetime
and bring Messiah, son of David.